


Rest with me Awhile

by Pakeha



Series: Kingdom by the Sea [1]
Category: Thor (2011)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, I should probably feel bad about writing this, M/M, Mpreg, Octo!Loki, Protective!Thor, discussion of past non-cons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-26
Updated: 2012-03-26
Packaged: 2017-11-02 13:30:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/369488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pakeha/pseuds/Pakeha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor, a human prince, and Loki, his half-octopus friend, have a conversation.  The situation is unconventional at best, but they make it work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rest with me Awhile

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why i wrote this

 

Sunlight spilt over the waves like a cache of jewels, the day fading into twilight with earnest speed. The tide had come in well over an hour ago, catching the little fish and lonely octopus from their pools and returning them to the ocean, but some creatures remained. Thor poked disinterestedly at a many-armed sea star, body hunched at an awkward angle to try and avoid casting his shadow over the animal in front of him.

The creature didn’t hold the prince’s attention long, and after a couple minutes he stood up with a little grunt. Wiping his hands on already salt-stiff trousers, he began to shift his weight restlessly from foot to foot, his hands clenching and unclenching at his side.

It had been a long day. A long day in a long line of days which didn’t look to be ending any time soon. It was a wonder he’d managed to sneak from the palace and make his way to the cove tonight. It had been a near thing several times over when he and a guard had come close to crossing paths. He couldn’t help but feel it was ridiculous that a crown prince should creep about like a common thief in order to spend time with a friend.

Then again, it wasn’t like Loki was a usual sort of friend, and Thor knew their friendship... Worried his parents. Not that it was any of their business, really.

Loki was also a late friend, apparently. It was well past the hour they had weekly set aside to try and meet. A line of worry lay carved between Thor’s brows as he studied the horizon. He tried to listen too for a sign, but the shush and sputter of the surf against the rocks was too much white noise for him to filter out. There was always the chance that Loki could not make it, some violence or intrigue in his kingdom keeping him away, but usually if one of them was to be held up it was Thor.

Minutes passed.

Then, a stone’s throw from Thor’s perch, a dark haired and blue skinned head emerged. It slid slowly from the waves until its eyes were just above the surface. Narrow, red eyes they were, and even from that distance Thor knew they promised dark things in his future. The smile which had flooded Thor’s face faded abruptly in the presence of that look.

Usually he would have adopted a sheepish, apologetic expression and attempted to explain away whatever slight he knew he’d visited upon his friend, but for once he was truly at a loss.

“Loki?” He called tentatively.

For a long moment his friend did nothing, then with a roll of his eyes he dipped back under the surface. Thor couldn’t help the little stir inside of him which came from watching the swirling red mass of Loki’s tentacles surge beneath the surface, the strength of them distorted and swelling before they stretched out in the easy push which propelled Loki towards the shore.

In the space of a moment he was gathered in the shallow water at Thor’s feet, glaring up at him with the thinnest sliver of ocean still glossed over his eyes.

“Loki?” Thor tried again, cautiously sinking to his knees. Seeing no easy answers coming, he began to wrack his brain for possible offenses. “Are you angry because... Because I have been absent these two weeks?”

Taking the other’s silent reproach as confirmation Thor scoffed. “I am sorry Loki, but as my eighteenth birthday approaches, father has increased my training and mother is insistent I be fitted for three separate outfits - three! - and I barely have a second to myself let alone the specific hours you and I have set aside to try and meet and I’m lucky I was even able to evade the jeweler tonight as he is insisting on measuring my head for the thousandth time to make certain that the crown will fit properly and-”

He was cut off sharply as a stream of water hit him square in the center of his forehead. Sputtering he threw a hand up to block it but Loki had already ceased, his work finished, the heir to the throne of Asgard properly punished with his hair sticking to his dripping cheeks and chin.

“That is not funny!” He shouted, swiping at his face, blinking salt from his eyes.

Loki returned his scowl with another eye roll, letting water dribble tauntingly from his lips as he bared his black teeth in a sneer.

“It is not! I have not been intentionally avoiding you. You should know that. Besides, I have gone a month without meeting you before and you were not nearly so cross then.”

Shaking his head, Loki fixed Thor with a pointed glare. The brilliant orange of the setting sun positively set Loki’s eyes on fire, and they burned into Thor with a mild fury. His irritation boiled away into nothing. He shivered, trying not to think about how beautiful his friend was and focus instead on feeling appropriately guilty for having gone so long in meeting him.

Loki’s long tentacles shifted casually in the water, clutching for a moment at the edges of stones to hold him steady then releasing their grip to dart aimlessly over the sand until a wave once again rocked him and he was forced to find a new tether. The red appendages seemed to do it without any input from Loki himself, like eight snakes whose sole purpose was to support their master, bright and slick and clever. Their color met with the skin tone of Loki’s more human half somewhere around mid hip, the point indistinct as red bled to blue and blue to red. Loki’s palms and part of his chest were also touched with this red, like the lower half had reached up over him and left some trace of itself behind, a mix of ruby and saphire. Blood and water. Fire and ice.

A flush touched Thor’s features. A sense of shame spiking through him for letting his thoughts run, but he was unable to help himself as he stared at the mass of Loki’s body under the water.

After a moment though he found himself frowning; there seemed to be something off about his friend. The sparkle of light over the ever shifting surface made it difficult for him to judge what was beneath, but something about the way Loki settled amongst the rocks, about the way he carried himself... it felt strange.

Not missing Thor’s scrutiny Loki hissed unhappily, unable to speak easily in the air but able to sound his displeasure easily enough.

Thor looked back up to Loki’s face guiltily, not wanting to further offend his friend by staring at a body which was so bare. While it never seemed to bother Loki before, Thor didn’t want to press his luck.

Yet when he met Loki’s eyes the anger was fading, replaced with nothing more than weariness.

Without further preamble, Loki surged up from the water. His wiry arms, so slender compared to Thor’s bulk, braced on the flat black stones which managed to stay dry even in high tide. Water sluiced down his shoulders, sticking long dark strands of hair to his chest and his back, drawing transparent lines which led down, down to-

“Loki...” Thor’s murmur trailed off, his throat closing as he watched water drip and run around the swell of Loki’s gently rounded belly.

His friend was with child.

“Oh, Loki, is it, I mean, how have you-”

The mercreature shook his head and sank slowly back into the water. With one hand he reached out to cover Thor’s mouth. Thor however was having none of that, startled and nearly frightened by the tightness on Loki’s features.

“Was this of your doing?” He cried, wrenching his head away from the other’s touch. “Or has someone done this to you, against your will? I swear to you Loki, if anyone has forced you into this I will strike them down. I shall visit the very bottom of the ocean and I will destroy whatever crawling, pathetic, pig of a creature has-”

Shaking his head harder at each word Loki finally sighed and reached for Thor’s jaw, grasping it firmly and giving him the faintest look of warning before he yanked his face down. With a yelp Thor followed the pull, letting the other drag him beneath the waves where sound fast became muffled and cool.

“You will do no such thing.” Loki hissed, his teeth against Thor’s ear, his face only visible to Thor if he strained to look out of the farthest corner of his eye, the boy’s blue skin appearing between strands of his own floating hair. “It is your fault I have been put into this state, I will not have you worsen things with ill-suited attempts to avenge an honor I have never possessed!”

Having been unable to take a decent breath before being submerged, and likewise having much to say on this matter, Thor pulled hard against Loki’s hold and dragged himself back above the water. Loki followed, looking cross about it.

“You have honor!” Thor gasped. “I have seen it! I saw it when you saved me from a watery grave! Likewise when you told me of the enemy fleet which slunk along our coasts. That information saved several villages from total destruction, and if that does not grant you honor than I do not know what does.”

With barely a chance to widen his eyes and shut his mouth Loki seized Thor once again about the ears and dragged him back under.

“Do not be naive. My honor or lack there of is of no consequence. Now, you must promise me to remain safely on land and far from my kingdom, where you would only be capable of causing me more harm. My only want now is to live through this birth and be left _alone_ , my one duty to my people having been for all intents and purposes satisfied.”

“What duty?” Thor shouted underwater then wished he hadn’t, his breath leaving him in a rush of bubbles and brine filling his mouth. Not wanting to stop the conversation he turned so the right side of his face was submerged, but the left faced the sky, spitting out the sea water and inhaling awkwardly through half parted lips. On the plus side, he was now fully facing Loki. A Loki who looked at him as if he were the biggest fool he had ever met.

“My duty as a child bearer, Thor. I am far too small to be of any use to them as a warrior. Any other adult of my kind would be easily thrice my length and double my girth. I should count myself lucky that I am even considered fit enough to be impregnated. By all means I should have been abandoned as an infant, left alone in some cave to die.”

Thor shook his head in an emphatic denial of Loki’s claims.

“But it is true, you great, golden, _idiot_. We can not all be born perfect and strong. Some of us must make use of other, less celebrated skills.”

Thor twisted his whole upper body so his mouth was free from the water then asked in a rush “Magic is one of your talents, is it not? Why did you not use it to drive him off?”

Loki snorted, and tugged Thor’s face back around so they could look at each other, albeit sideways. “I would have easily been able to keep one man at bay, but not a whole gang of them. Had I fought they would have killed me easily. My only real option was to submit. It’s not like I did not know this was coming, my father always made it clear what was expected of his youngest son.”

As the look of horror grew on Thor’s face Loki only laughed, albeit darkly. “Do not look so aghast. Our cultures are vastly different Thor. This is not unheard of and not nearly as barbaric as you are imagining it to be. Just because I was unwilling does not mean I did not expect it. I always knew such a thing was in my future, such a thing to make me _useful._

If you must have something to compare it to, think: do not many young girls in Asgard go to their marital beds reluctant, complete strangers to their mates? The only difference between my situation and theirs is that I endured the ministrations of multiple partners and have emerged without a husband. The latter of which, I am immensely grateful for.”

For all the reason in Loki’s tone, Thor was having none of it. His knuckles were white and his palms aching from how hard he gripped the edge of the stone he was kneeling on. “I am sorry my friend, but I cannot see this as anything less than a great injury to you!”

For a long minute Loki was silent. Then he asked quietly “Does it offend you so deeply that I am pregnant?”

Thor’s eyes opened wide. “No! That is not it at all! You are my friend. That you are with child does not change that. But to force this upon you...” He swallowed hard to keep from shouting, every inch of him wanting to promise a revenge that Loki had already forbid he exact.

“And you said it was my fault?” He asked after a moment. “How is this my fault? I feel this blow to your honor as surely as I would feel a blow to mine, but I do not see-”

Loki sneered, black teeth bared and red eyes narrowed. “My father followed me the last time we met and saw you kiss me, you oaf. He grew _concerned_ that if he did not hasten certain events that I would become pregnant by way of a human, and such dilution of blood would cast much shame on my kin and kingdom. I have of course been expressly forbidden from returning to visit you ever again.”

The way he said these things so matter-of-factly made Thor’s head spin. “Because of a kiss?” He asked, unable to believe it. “He ordered such violence against you because he witnessed a _kiss_?”

When Loki only nodded Thor sputtered, shaking his head violently as he yanked it completely from the water, salty droplets flying back and forth, raining down on Loki even as he ducked to escape the onslaught. “It was not even a good kiss! You pulled away so quickly!”

For a moment Loki seemed stunned, then he barked a humourless laugh. He reached out to seize Thor’s shoulders and pulled him down until they were nose to nose, just barely touching at the point where water became air and air became water. Thor had to listen very hard to hear him like this, his friend’s voice merging with the general loll of the waves.

“It hardly matters what sort of kiss it was Thor. It happened, it’s over and done with.” When Thor looked as if he were to further protest Loki shushed him with a determined shake of his head, his hair floating ethereally around his face as he moved. “Would you stop working yourself into such a frenzy? It is of no use now. One day I will deal with those responsible, I assure you, but for now there is nothing to be done.”

“But they could hurt you again!”

Loki laughed. “They would have to find me first.”

Another protest ripe on Thor’s tongue died at Loki’s words. He swallowed hard. “Where will you go?”

“I do not know.” Loki shrugged. “Our pregnancies are far shorter than those of humans, so someplace small and safe until the child comes in the month after next. Then I suppose I shall go where ever I please.”

“Will your people not be angry that you have taken the babe with you?”

Loki’s laugh aimed to mock. “As if they every wanted any offspring of mine, Thor. They would beat it and call it a monster and shut it up in the dark. They have used breeding as a pretense to punishment; this is just an excuse to humiliate me. An attempt to teach me my place.”

A part of Thor bristled at Loki’s tone, but he shoved that part of him aside. Though he and Loki had often had extraordinary rows in the span of their friendship, now was not the time.

“But what then of the child?” He prompted quietly.

“I do not know!” Loki snapped, his eyes glittering. He started to pull himself deeper underwater and Thor reached out in a panic, forgetting that the mercreature could only sink a few inches. He wrapped his hands around Loki’s slim shoulders and held him firm, afraid that if he loosened his grip the slippery skin would slide right from his grasp and his friend would go off and do something drastic.

Eyes wild, he gasped without thinking “Stay with me then.”

The words came unbidden. It was a wild, crazy suggestion that could only be born of panic, but as soon as Thor had made the offer he knew he did not want to take it back.

“You cannot be serious.” Thor read Loki’s lips more than heard his quiet words. Those red eyes were narrowed in suspicion and barely contained anger.

Thor shook his head with all the sincerity he could muster. “No. I mean yes. I am serious. Stay, Loki. Stay here, with me. I’ll take you to the salt baths first, they are fed straight from the ocean. Then I will call mother and when I explain what your people have done to you I’m certain she’ll agree to let you stay. Our kingdoms may not have much cause to be friendly, but it has been generations since we have been enemies.

“And we’ll expand the baths, they can be yours! No one at the palace ever really uses them anyway, and we could alter them to suit whatever your needs.”

Thor held his breath as Loki stared up at him silence.

“I will not be locked up like an animal.”

Thor exhaled.

“You would be free to go about as you pleased! The keys to the grates which lead from the baths to the ocean would be yours. And should you ever wish to move on land, that would be fine too. The palace would be alerted to your presence, they’d know you were my guest.”

Loki was shaking his head but his eyes had lost the sharp edge of suspicion. “Your family will never agree to this.”

“But they will!” Thor insisted. “I am certain they will. And if they are reluctant, I will ask for it as a gift! I am turning eighteen, after all, and large gifts are expected.”

“I will not be your gift!” Loki snarled. Thor winced.

“No, you won’t! Your safety will be my gift! A chance to shelter a friend will be my gift. And a fine gift it will be indeed. Please Loki! If not for me, than for the child.”

Loki rolled his eyes and sneered at the prince. “What should I care for this child? Its origins are hateful to me.”

With his heart in his throat Thor squeezed Loki’s shoulders before loosening his grip to just a touch. “But we shall give it a better future. I would like to care for it, at least. Anything that is part of you I would like to care for.”

For a long time no one said anything.

Then with a sigh that gusted out in a jet of water, Loki adopted a put upon expression. “There is no way that this is your child Thor. You did not get me pregnant through your meager excuse for a kiss.”

Thor looked confused. “Of course it is not mine.” Did Loki really think him so foolish? He grit his teeth and continued on. “But it _is_ yours. Hateful or not, it is still your child. I should like to help you care for it.”

“You are being naive again.” Loki sank a centimeter deeper, his eyes unblinking as they regarded him from below.

“I am being hopeful Loki, there is a difference.”

“No.” He sighed. Then, even as he began to haul himself laboriously from the water, he hissed “It isn’t.”

his bright red tentacles crawled up and over the dry stones to carry him out of the water, gravity weighing heavy on him as he moved.

Thor sat back on his heels quickly. He did not often have cause to watch Loki move over land, but the slow creeping glide always awed him. “Please don’t speak, I know it hurts. But, please, is this a yes?”

With a final roll of his eyes Loki nodded.

At Thor’s victorious whoop he shook his head and reached out to grip his friend’s hand tugging him close until he could wrap an arm around his shoulders. Then he glared at him until Thor understood and reached one arm around his back and the other under all his tentacles to lift him up. There was no way he was crawling over these sharp stones all the way back to the palace. One day he would refine that transformation spell he’d been working on and he would learn to walk on land, but for now he must remain as he was.

“It will work, Loki.” Thor murmured, and when Loki looked up he caught the fire of determination shining in Thor’s eyes, his whole body gold and glittering in the last rays of the fading sun.

‘No it won’t.‘ Loki thought, one hand tapping at his stomach distractedly. ‘But it will be interesting to try.’


End file.
